Author Event: Six Days in Bombay by Alka Joshi

Join us for a special event with Alka Joshi, author of Six Days in Bombay. This event is free, but we appreciate your RSVP below so we can plan for your attendance.

In her first standalone novel since her breakout New York Times bestselling debut novel, The Henna Artist, Alka Joshi returns with SIX DAYS IN BOMBAY (MIRA; April 15, 2025), a sweeping story of identity and self-discovery inspired by the iconic Indian painter, Amrita Sher-Gil, known as the “Frida Kahlo of India.”

Set in 1937, the novel follows Sona, a young Anglo-Indian nurse, as she travels from Bombay to Istanbul, Prague, Florence, Paris, and London to uncover the mystery behind a famous painter’s death.

Sona, born to an Indian mother and abandoned by her British father, is a nurse in Bombay who struggles with her dual identity. When Mira Novak, a famous half-Indian painter, arrives at the hospital after a miscarriage, Sona becomes captivated by her stories of worldly adventure and reckless love. Over the course of a week, the women develop a special bond and when Mira dies under mysterious circumstances, Sona immediately falls under suspicion.

The key to proving Sona’s innocence may lie in a cryptic note and four paintings Mira left in her care, sending her on a mission to visit the painter’s former friends and lovers across a tumultuous Europe teetering on war. As Sona leaves her quiet, sheltered life in Bombay behind, she’s thrust into cultures and situations she’s never had to face, learning valuable lessons, growing in her independence, and confronting her own painful past. She also learns her beloved Mira’s charming façade hid a complicated, troubled soul.

With SIX DAYS IN BOMBAY, Alka Joshi shines a spotlight on Amrita Sher-Gil through the fictional character, Mira Novak. Amrita was a prodigy. She was flamboyant, political, outspoken, sexually fluid, and charming. She’s known as India’s Frida Kahlo because the women shared so much in common. Both identified with two cultures. Amrita’s father was a Sikh aristocrat and scholar while her mother was a Hungarian Jewish opera singer. Frida’s mother was Mexican, and her father was a Hungarian/German Jew. Yet, when it came to their art, they chose to focus on their non-European identity. Both artists died young and in uncertain circumstances. Amrita was only 28. Frida was 47. Joshi likes to believe that had Amrita lived longer she would have eventually been recognized as a global phenomenon. She explains, “It’s important to me that the work of female painters like Amrita Sher-Gil is not forgotten. Paying tribute to her in this novel is also my way of reclaiming my Indian identity.”

Identity is a concept that has long fascinated Alka Joshi and it is central to this novel. “I came with my family to the United States from India when I was nine. Until then, I had only known Indian people, Indian food, and Indian customs,” she shares. “The moment I stepped on American soil, I was enchanted. It didn’t take me long to identify as American instead of Indian, but my otherness followed me everywhere. Which was I: American or Indian?” Joshi explores identity through the characters of Mira and Sona. While Mira moves with ease between two cultures, Sona is conflicted. Which culture deserves her loyalty? Which is she allowed to claim as hers?

SIX DAYS IN BOMBAY is a “stirring, thoroughly immersive read filled with an unforgettable cast of characters, transporting settings, an intriguing quest, and a beautiful homage to the enduring bonds that connect us. Riveting, resonant, and richly detailed.” (Chanel Cleeton, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Cuban Heiress and The Last Days in Barcelona).

“Six Days in Bombay is a sparkling travelogue and a poignant journey of self-discovery all in one. . .Alka Joshi is simply the best!” —Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network and The Rose Code

“Alka Joshi ushers readers into a world on the cusp of war, and an Indian empire on the edge of independence, both of which serve as a cleverly drawn and fitting backdrop for the story of a woman seeking answers about her own complicated identity . . . A compelling and richly textured tale of art, loss, identity, and independence, Six Days in Bombay shines.” —Kristin Harmel, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Daughter

Born in India and raised in the U.S. since the age of nine. Alka Joshi has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of Arts. Joshi's debut novel, The Henna Artist, immediately became a NYT bestseller, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick, was Longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, and has been translated into 30 languages. The Secret Keeper of Jaipur (2021) and The Perfumist of Paris (2023) completed the Jaipur Trilogy. Her fourth novel, Six Days in Bombay, will be released on April 15, 2025. She is currently working on her fifth novel. In 2024, Joshi was selected for the Forbes 50 over 50 List, celebrating women who are shattering age and gender norms across all sectors of the American economy and culture.

Holly Hubbard Preston is a professional journalist, essayist, blogger and most recently, published fiction author. An independent bookstore advocate, she recently partnered with the Napa Bookmine and St. Helena Public Library to establish a collection showcasing stories for and about historically marginalized reader communities. A native of Northern California, she holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Stony Brook University in New York. A full-time writer, she is currently seeking representation for What Birds Know, a debut literary novel about human migration, inspired by real events. Visit her website to learn more about her writing, including her popular Wall2Wall Project blog, or to listen to her previously recorded author talks.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Napa County Library, 580 Coombs St., Napa, United States